Inside 208

LANSING, Michigan – The Michigan Department of Treasury website has a posting dated May 15 which indicates $700,000 is still available in the second and final round of the Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP). More than $4 million (of the original $5 million) in EVIP funding was awarded for 28 projects throughout Michigan [...]

LANSING, Michigan – The Michigan Municipal League today (May 14, 2012) is calling on the Governor and Michigan Legislature to appropriate the $100 million that was committed to communities for economic gardening and revitalization when the redevelopment credits were eliminated. For many years, communities throughout Michigan used Brownfield and Historic [...]

The Michigan Department of Treasury now has new Economic Vitality Incentive Program (EVIP) forms/instructions available on their website for communities that would like to certify for the third phase of EVIP by complying with Public Act 152. Click here to view the form and here to view the instructions. The deadline [...]

Yesterday afternoon the House passed SB 1064, a bill pre-empting local cell tower colocation approval by a vote of 104-5. The bill provides that a colocation does not need special land use approval if it the existing structure is in compliance with local zoning and the proposed colocation does not [...]

This morning the House Energy & Technology Committee unanimously passed SB 1064, a bill that pre-empts local zoning for cell phone tower siting. While the League is philosophically opposed to the legislation, we do appreciate Senator Kowall’s willingness to work with us to address at least some of those concerns. [...]

The Michigan Liquor Control Commission (MLCC) has alerted the League that they are changing philosophy a bit on the issuance of liquor licenses.  The current MLCC Board members have reviewed the Michigan Compiled Laws (MCL) for the Liquor Code and are adjusting policies to ensure that their actions reflect Michigan [...]

The Michigan Foreclosure Task Force today launched a free, online Community Foreclosure Response Toolkit  — a unique, user-friendly, one-stop-shop resource to allow community stakeholders like your constituents to easily find the basic information, resources, strategies and best-practice models they need to respond effectively to the ongoing foreclosure crisis in their area. The toolkit website is searchable and [...]

LANSING, Michigan – Officials from throughout the state representing cities, schools, libraries, police and fire stood together Wednesday and called for guaranteed replacement of Personal Property Tax dollars that Michigan lawmakers are proposing to cut. On Tuesday, Michigan legislators introduced a package of bills that phase out hundreds of millions [...]

This afternoon the Senate Economic Development committee passed SB 1064, a bill that pre-empts local zoning when it comes to colocation of wireless communications equipment on an existing tower. The bill was introduced yesterday afternoon and quickly passed through committee today, just over 24 hours after its introduction. The League [...]

Congress is on their spring recess during the next two weeks, giving local officials a perfect opportunity to speak with them of issues of importance such as transportation and the 2013 budget. As you do so, please talk to them about the need for a longer term transportation funding bill [...]